Helen named to Board of Advisors for National Trust

Reported by the Harrodsburg Herald

Helen Dedman has been named to the Board of Advisors of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2009. She will serve as advisor to the national nonprofit preservation organization for an initial three year term.

Helen recently attended the National Preservation conference meeting in Tulsa, OK, where she was elected to the Board of Advisors for the southern region. She joins Kentucky's other trust advisor, Anne Arensberg of Louisville.

Advisors aid the National Trust in carrying out its mission to save historic places and revitalize communities through their personal skills, knowledge of historic preservation issues and familiarity with the state's and region's resources, leaders, government, media and community organizations.

Helen has long been active in historic preservation in Kentucky. She and her husband, Chuck, own and operate the Beaumont Inn, where he is the fourth generation of his family to do so. Mrs. Dedman has extensive experience in the fields of cultural heritage tourism and rural issues. She is a founding member of the James Harrod Trust for Historic Preservation in Mercer County, board member of Preservation Kentucky, serves as chair of the steering committee on the Rural Heritage Development Initiative, board member of the Perryville Battlefield Preservation Association and is a member and former board member of the Harrodsburg Historical Society.

The Board of Advisors was established in 1966 by the Board of Trustees to increase the National Trust’s direct contact and communication with state and local constituents. It provides the Trust and the American preservation movement a nationwide network of more than one hundred volunteer preservation leaders, with two representatives from each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 2005 at the request of the Board of Advisors, the Trustees passed a resolution specifically to expand the diversity and reach of Advisors by adding up to two Advisors from each of the six Trust regions, the goal of which is to develop collegial relationships with networks of individuals and communities not currently engaged in the preservation movement. Advisors may serve up to three, three-year terms, with performance evaluations taking place at the end of years 3 and 6. From its inception in 1966, 685 individuals have served on the Board of Advisors.

Advisors represent the skills, interests, backgrounds, accomplishments, and diverse constituencies involved in the preservation movement in the United States. They are selected after consultation with preservation partners in the affected states, and offer assistance to the National Trust through their personal skills, knowledge of issues, and familiarity with the state’s and region’s resources, leaders, government, media, and community organizations. Advisors provide valuable counsel on emerging concerns and trends, and in turn have stimulated the creation of program activities responding to a range of issues, including diversity, the recent past, heritage education, heritage tourism, and economic development. The Trust’s regional offices maintain a strong working relationship with each Advisor in his or her region and help to determine when and how the skills of an individual Advisor might best be matched to identified needs. The Resource Center in the National Trust’s Washington D.C. office supports the leadership of the Board of Advisors and coordinates the meetings of Advisors.

Advisors convene at least twice annually, once at the national preservation conference and again each Spring, either in different cities in their region, or in Washington, D.C., on a rotating basis. Since 1999, Advisors have sponsored educational sessions at the conference, using the opportunity to bring together the experiences of a group of individuals around a rising issue challenging preservationists and communities across the country. Spring meetings every other year in Washington coincide with the preservation movement’s Lobby Day activities, coordinated by a partnership of preservation organizations including the National Trust. Advisors are prominently active in such advocacy activities on a national, regional, and local level.

The Board of Advisors is governed by an annually elected Executive Committee of officers and the chairs of the regional boards of Advisors, plus four individuals from the at-large Advisor membership. The work of the Advisors is accomplished on specialized committees formed around specific issues in concert with staff of the National Trust. Additionally, Advisors serve on committees of the Board of Trustees and the National Trust’s Diversity Council at the invitation of the Chairman of the Board. The Chairman of the Board of Advisors is an ex officio member of the Board of Trustees and a member of its Executive Committee.

Advisors Emeritus are former Advisors who have completed three three-year terms or who have served with distinction, and were elected to Emeritus status. Since the Board’s inception, 221 Advisors have become Emeritus.